Scottish Executive

Air Services

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have taken place between ministers and commercial airlines since 1 January 2003; what the subject matter was of any such meetings, and what meetings are planned with such airlines in the next three months.

Nicol Stephen: Ministers and officials meet airlines regularly and meetings may well take place in the next three months.

Air Services

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet, and make representations to, any interested parties, other than Her Majesty's Government and civil servants, regarding a public service obligation application for the Inverness to Gatwick air link and, if so, which organisations and individuals it plans to meet.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has supported the imposition of protective measures on the Inverness to Gatwick air link. The Secretary of State for Transport indicated at the UK Parliament's Transport Committee on 21 May that this issue will be covered in the forthcoming white paper. There are no plans to meet other parties.

Animal Welfare

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it became aware of the current funding situation of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and what initial support it has offered to the society.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-40 on 3 June 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Central Heating Programme

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the customer care complaints system in respect of installations under its central heating programme administered through Eaga Partnership Ltd, how many complaints have been made about the standard of work by contractors; how many complaints have been made about disruption to decoration or any other item, over and above that initially envisaged when the heating installation was planned; how many staff from Eaga have been available to deal with any complaints; what the average response time has been to resolve complaints; on how many occasions Eaga incurred additional expenses in resolving a complaint, showing whether the resolution of the complaint involved additional remedial work or repair to decoration or any other item; on how many occasions a contractor has incurred additional expense to resolve a complaint, showing whether the resolution of the complaint involved additional remedial works or repair to decoration or any other item; how many inspectors Eaga has for monitoring and approving heating installations, and what percentage of installations have been routinely inspected, broken down by quarter since the programme began.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: In January 2003 Eaga introduced a new system for recording and dealing with complaints. They now have a comprehensive register of complaints and action taken on them and a dedicated complaints team.

  In the period 1 January to 30 May 2003 there have been 48 complaints about standards of workmanship by contractors; 19 have been upheld, seven have not been upheld and a decision has yet to be made in 22 cases. There have been a total of 73 complaints about excessive mess and upheaval, damage to decoration or household goods, and debris left behind. Twenty-nine of these complaints have been upheld, 17 have not been upheld and 27 are pending. There were 2,854 installations in this period, so the number of complaints relates to 4.24% of this total.

  Eaga have two staff who deal with complaints and a further member of staff who deals with enquiries from MSPs. Other members of staff, up to and including the manager, are available if required and senior members of staff will become involved in individual cases if an adjudication or second opinion is required. For those complaints, which have been resolved, the average time taken to resolve them was 12 days.

  Eaga have not previously maintained a central register of remedial works required to resolve complaints or additional expenses incurred as a consequence. They will now keep such a register.

  Installations are inspected by Eaga’s technical monitoring officers. They ensure that the required specifications, such as the number and siting of radiators and the position of the boiler, have been met. Eaga also employ two specialist companies who carry out a 100% inspection of installations to ensure that quality standards are met.

  Where a complaint is upheld and remedial works are required to the central heating system, or other substantial works are needed, those works are inspected on completion.

European Union

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what role it has in the appointment of Europol directors.

Cathy Jamieson: Directors and deputy directors of Europol are appointed by the Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs meeting at the Council of the European Union, where the Home Secretary represents the UK.

  The UK Government leads in negotiations with EU member states in all areas of justice and home affairs, including Europol. The Scottish Executive maintains regular contact with the Home Office on a wide range of EU justice and home affairs issues to ensure that devolved Scottish interests are appropriately represented in these negotiations.

Fireworks

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional powers it plans to give to local authorities to tackle the "nuisance of fireworks", as referred to in the First Minister’s statement on 28 May 2003 ( Official Report , c 89).

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive and UK Government plan to give local authorities a range of powers to control the sale of fireworks and the times and places that fireworks can be used.

Football

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it is proposing to make available to football clubs that are members of the Scottish Premier League (SPL) and for what purpose.

Mr Frank McAveety: We have no plans at present to make Exchequer funds available to individual SPL clubs. The SPL and other football clubs are, however, likely to benefit from the major investment in national and regional sports facilities we announced on 23 March 2003.

Football

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make it a condition of any future public funding of football clubs that are members of the Scottish Premier League (SPL) that the criteria for admission to the SPL do not infringe any principles of natural justice and that any application for admission is assessed in an open and accountable manner.

Mr Frank McAveety: The conditions attached to any future public funding which the Executive might give to SPL clubs would take account of all relevant circumstances at that time.

Football

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the statement made to the Parliament by the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport on 26 March 2003 ( Official Report , c 19935), it will initiate a dialogue with the Scottish Premier League (SPL) about its membership rules in order to ensure that they do not infringe any principles of natural justice.

Mr Frank McAveety: No. I understand that Falkirk FC have lodged an appeal with the Scottish Football Association against the SPL’s decision on the club’s application for entry. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish ministers to comment on the SPL’s criteria for membership in those circumstances.

Health

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct research into how many NHS prescriptions are written but not dispensed and whether it is recorded in a patient's record that a prescription has not been dispensed.

Malcolm Chisholm: Prescriptions written by NHS prescribers are recorded in the patient’s notes. It is for the patient to present the prescription for dispensing. The prescriber could not be aware that a particular prescription had not been dispensed. It is therefore impossible to include this information in the patient’s record. We have no plans to conduct research on this issue.

Health

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated to cover any indemnity claims in respect of NHS blood product treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: Any indemnity claims arising in respect of NHS blood product treatment, like all indemnity claims against NHSScotland, will be met from the funds set aside in the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS).

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what health hazards arise from exposure to mercury, methylmercury and ethylmercury.

Malcolm Chisholm: Elemental mercury can cause a wide range of adverse health effects including damage to the respiratory, renal and nervous systems. However, incidences of poisoning by elemental mercury are rare, and associated mainly with occupational exposure by inhalation.

  The main health concerns associated with organic mercury compounds relate to their adverse effect on the development of the central nervous system.

Mental Health

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for the development of mental health services.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our priority remains to work with the users of services and their carers, the partner agencies, the voluntary sector and others to advance change and improvement in the quality and accessibility of mental health services, bringing more care closer to the communities served.

  Partnership for Care (Bib. number 26689) most recently set out our vision for the future of the health service including our ambitions for improving mental health services. Current activity and planned next steps were also set out in the paper Mental Health: Moving the Agenda Forward (Bib. number 27705), published on 26 March 2003. Together these form the core of our agenda for further developing mental health services and also form the basis for an event in Edinburgh on 19 June 2003 for users, carers, planners and providers of mental health services which I am to address.

Pharmacies

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to deliver its pharmacy strategy, as set out in The Right Medicine: A Strategy for Pharmaceutical Care in Scotland .

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive remains committed to delivering The Right Medicine: A Strategy for Pharmaceutical Care in Scotland .

  In July 2002, the Executive appointed an implementation team to work closely with the pharmacy profession and with other key stakeholders to ensure their continued support and progress the initiatives set out in the strategy.

  Additionally, negotiations are under way with pharmacy contractor representatives to underpin the strategy through a new contract designed to further improve and deliver quality pharmaceutical care for patients and the public.

  Copies of the strategy are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 18835).

Public Transport

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider its policy on the 24-hour car ban in respect of bus lanes on trunk routes in Aberdeen.

Nicol Stephen: There are no plans to alter the 24-hour bus lane restriction on the A90 trunk road in Aberdeen. However, the Scottish Executive will continue to liase with Aberdeen City Council when changes occur to their bus lane regulations.

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding will be made available for the installation of rail loops at Reston and, if so, when it will be made available.

Nicol Stephen: I understand that there are no current plans for funding rail loops at Reston. The Strategic Rail Authority are the lead body for the enhancement of the east coast main line.

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money is guaranteed for "supporting construction of the Borders rail line" as referred to in the transport section of A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Nicol Stephen: For capital infrastructure projects over 10 years, we have £3 billion of investment moneys, within which we have the necessary resources to implement a Borders railway project, subject to the appraisal being conducted under the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance.

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will explain and expand on the meaning of "supporting", as used in the statement "supporting the construction of the Borders Rail Line" in A Partnership for a Better Scotland .

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is supporting the work undertaken to prepare the business case and the private bill by awarding Scottish Borders Council over £2 million from the Public Transport Fund. The Scottish Executive will continue its support through the parliamentary process and will support the construction, including the provision of an appropriate funding contribution, subject to the project, as for all such projects, satisfying its business case objectives. The Scottish Executive has £3 billion of investment for capital infrastructure projects over the next 10 years, within which we have the necessary resources to implement the Borders railway.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used for the siting, placement of, and distance between motorway lighting columns, in particular, on the M8; whether there has been any reduction in the number of such columns and, if so, what reduction, and whether any action is to be taken on this matter and, if so, by whom

Nicol Stephen: The criteria for the design of lighting column layouts for trunk roads and motorways, including the M8, are set out in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. There is currently a temporary reduction of lighting on the M8/A8 corridor during maintenance works. However, I am not aware of any permanent reduction in the number of lighting columns on the M8.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34115 by Des McNulty on 27 February 2003, when it now expects to announce the date of the public inquiry into the route of the A96 Fochabers and Mosstodloch bypass.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: A second pre-inquiry meeting was held in Fochabers on 26 May 2003. All of those who had objected to the proposals were invited to the meeting by letter and it was open to the public. It was agreed at that meeting that the inquiry into objections to the proposed Fochabers and Mosstodloch Bypass will commence on 9 September 2003. The inquiry, which will be held in public, is expected to run for five to six weeks.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the standard of ground maintenance of the trunk road network in the Highlands Council area is adequate.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive provides for the same level of landscape maintenance on all Scottish trunk roads and the standard is adequate. The Performance Audit Group (PAG) monitors BEAR’s performance and any deficiencies identified will be addressed.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25409 by Lewis Macdonald on 9 May 2002, what schemes have been identified for the A82 between Tyndrum and Inverness in the context of its review of the 1995 Route Accident Reduction Plan.

Nicol Stephen: BEAR Scotland Ltd will submit the Route Accident Reduction Plan (RARP) for the A82 between Tyndrum and Inverness to the Executive before the end of July 2003. The plan will identify measures for inclusion in trunk road programmes. These measures will be considered and progressed in the normal manner.

Sport

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that promotion in sport is based primarily on sporting performance.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is a matter for the governing bodies of sport.